Guests keep taking keys home

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
Yorkshire Lass
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Guests keep taking keys home

Post by Yorkshire Lass »

At one of our properties the guests seem to be forgetting to put the keys back in the key safe on departure and taking them home on a regular basis (3 times this year already). They usually remember en route and then text/call and I have to get them to post them back to our cleaner. It's getting rather irritating and inconvenient so I'm thinking of making an automatic deduction from the offenders' security deposit and just wondered if any one else has had problems with this issue. I should say that this doesn't seem to happen at our other properties and the key difference is that the guests have to not only lock the front door on departure but also lock a padlock on a chain across a parking area directly opposite the house (only a few yards away) and I guess it's the extra process that's scrambling their brains. As the last guest who did this a week ago claims to have posted the keys back to our cleaner but they have yet to arrive I'm feeling particularly irked at the moment!
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Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

I've only had this once, and my manager didn't notice. Guest emailed me ages after their departure telling me she had posted the keys back. As she'd posted them to the apartment address, they wouldn't fit into the mail box, so a card had been left. BEing off-season, M hadn't looked in the post box, and the keys eventually went back to Mrs Guest. Not sure she was too happy about having to send them again direct to M, but by then the ski season was about to start and she needed the key.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

My keys cost 40€ each to replace as they are security keys that open the front door, the ski locker, our apartment door and the door to the pool area.
Bunny
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Post by Bunny »

Although I've got a key deposit box, I only use it for emergencies for this very reason. Soon after I got it I had guests go off with the keys. Not only that but I found that guests were putting the key in the box whilst they went out rather than taking it with them, but not locking the box! I would definitely not return any of their deposit until I had the keys returned. From a guest point of view I would be horrified to think that previous guests could potentially gain entry. I'm not sure how we stand legally on what would be a 'fine' if the keys were eventually returned. I guess you could argue that all the while they still held the keys they still had possession of the cottage so you could justify a nightly rate as a fine. Other than that I guess you could only justify a charge for your admin time for chasing them but that would be too small to be worth worrying about. I guess you could say that if they failed to put the keys back in the box and then failed to return them within x amount of days you would charge for a complete lock change.
other
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Post by other »

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Last edited by other on Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

I can order mine online but need a security code from a card we were provided with to order any replacements. Many of the owners have now lost their cards and are having difficulties getting new keys.
kg1
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Post by kg1 »

We have several sets of keys & keep a tight track on them. No one gets their security deposit back until we get the keys - this is made clear several times in the booking process, also in a 'phone call the day before departure. We actually ask guests to put the keys through the letterbox when they leave - seems to work well.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

We've never had guests take keys home.

I suspect that by the time guests have got their car out they have mentally left the house and any departure instructions are forgotten as their focus is now on their journey.

Rather than threatening them with fines I think the first thing is to see if you can make the process more foolproof.

Can you replace the parking bay padlock with one that uses a code instead of a key? Then have clear instructions for guests to post the keys through the letterbox on departure (or whatever you usually do).

Another option would be to have some kind of reminder either on the key ring or on the padlock.

Or would it be possible to have a key safe or secure post box on the parking bay near the padlock for them to leave keys in?
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
Martha
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Post by Martha »

We have ours on small cowbells. These are great as they're very easy to locate (shake the bag/pocket to see if you have them) - might work for you?
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
Yorkshire Lass
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Post by Yorkshire Lass »

'I suspect that by the time guests have got their car out they have mentally left the house and any departure instructions are forgotten as their focus is now on their journey'

This is definitely the problem! I think Joanna's suggestion regarding the parking bay padlock being a coded one instead of using a key is a good one (though it will create another code to pass on!). Anyway, it's worth a try!

Out of interest - has anyone out there ever successfully charged a guest the full cost of lock replacement if they have lost a key?
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

If someone has to lock the front door upon leaving how could they forget that they have a great big bundle of keys in their hand? I would hate for anyone to walk off with mine because some of the security lock keys cost €35 each to replace :cry:
Marks
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Post by Marks »

Yorkshire Lass wrote:Out of interest - has anyone out there ever successfully charged a guest the full cost of lock replacement if they have lost a key?
Yes. New lock and keys were 80€, deducted from the security deposit and balance returned. Guest has since re-booked.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
cysgod y coed
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Post by cysgod y coed »

Once had a group of golfers, one of whom had left early, for London, with the keys.
I had to drop everything, drive 100 plus miles round journey, only to be given £20 for my trouble.
I did not have a security bond then but do now.
I also leave a spare set in a very secure place.
Guests are told that if they lose keys they pay £50.
Oddly never had that problem again.
If you can keep your head when all around you are panicking.......you have probably not seen the whole picture.
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

In my case, I suspect hubby had locked up and returned the key to the post box as instructed. Wife had the other key in her bag. As we need the key for so many different doors on the premises, it isn't fair to just leave them with one.
Martha's cow bell idea is a good one. At the moment mine are attached to a Chamois key ring, but one of the has broken after almost 8 years of use, so perhaps I'll consider the bells instead.
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